Clayton Danvers
Clayton "Clay" Danvers is a Werewolf and the beta wolf and enforcer of the North American Werewolf Pack. He is the adoptive grandson of Malcolm Danvers, the adoptive son of Jeremy Danvers, the husband of Elena Michaels and the father of Katherine and Logan Danvers. He's a genius, with a high IQ (160) and a Ph.D. in anthropology. He has had a complicated relationship with Elena Michaels, despite being seperated he constantly wore the gold wedding ring he bought her over twelve years previous. He is known to be antisocial and very instinct driven with a bad temper and a lack of empathy for strangers as well as an 'ends justify the means' mentality, partly because of his strong wolf mentality. Clay's original full name and exact birthdate and age remain unknown, he mentions having parents and older brothers in the novella Savage but is never mentioned to have sought them out or discovered who his birth family were. Clay acts as the bodyguard and Pack enforcer for the Alpha, a position he has held since Jeremy was Alpha and which continued on when Elena became Alpha. Clay grew up in a physically abusive and neglectful household, his high intelligence was obvious from a young age and his home life influenced his distrust of others and independence from them even before he was bitten. Clay is one of only two characters known to have sought out the bite of a Werewolf and is also the youngest to have been successfully turned, somewhere around the age of five or six. Description His hair is golden blond in close cropped curls, he is 6 foot and well muscled with blue eyes. Has a southern accent. Paige Winterbourne describes Clay in Industrial Magic as; "Like Elena, Clay was blond-haired, blue-eyed, and well built. While Elena was attractive, Clay was traffic-stopping gorgeous… and had all the charm of a pit viper." Elena Michaels describes him in Stolen as; "Clay was one of those detestable people blessed with both genius-level intelligence and drop-dead-gorgeous looks. Blue eyes, dark blond curls, and a rugged face straight out of a magazine. Match that with a powerful body and you have a package that wouldn't go unnoticed in the middle of a Chippendales convention." Appearances Savage Clay's first chronological appearance was in the novella Savage which he narrates. In 1967 Clay is around the age of five and lives in Baton Rogue with his birth family. Sometime previous to the beginning of the novella Clay had come across an older man and witnessed the man Changing into a wolf, Clay knew what a Werewolf was from stories told to him by his elder brothers to scare him, all though they were human stories not true supernatural ones. Clay came from an abusive household and saw the power a Werewolf had as being a strength he lacked, that if he became something that could evoke fear in others he wouldn't have to suffer that fear himself. Clay confronts the older man who he discovered to be a Werewolf and demands he bite him so he can be like him. The man is surprised at the request and wonders if he's dreaming, he Changes and bites Clay who smiles at him after it is done. The Werewolf didn't intend to allow Clay to live though and chases him through the woods, until being forced to back off when he comes across humans. The first few weeks after he is turned Clay remembers little of expect for the pain and the hallucinations, he suffers through it alone and doesn't become psychotic like other bitten Werewolves have without someone to help them, instead Clay regresses to a feral state. Clay survives by relying on his new wolf instincts coupled with his sharp intelligence and the fact that he'd already been learning to survive on his own prior to being bitten. Clay choose not to attempt to return home and used his enhanced sense of smell to avoid humans, scavenging in wolf form including the body of a dead homeless man. While scavenging in the city Clay came across the scent of a Werewolf, initially believing it to be the man who bit him before realising that what he smelt was the common scent of a Werewolf. This Werewolf follows Clay back to his den and roughs him up while trying to communicate with him, Clay had lost the ability to understand and communicate human speech and was thrown aside when he didn't respond, bashing his head on a rock hard enough to pass out. Some time later Clay returns to his den to find another Werewolf there, he assumes it to be the same one at first based on their physical similarities but soon figures out this is yet another different Werewolf. The man tries to communicate with Clay in a gentler manner than the previous, Clay feels cornered and attacks before retreating and expecting to be beaten. The man doesn't hit him and instead leaves, to return later with food. This pattern continues as a form of domestication with the man bringing Clay food to allow him to get used to him, using the food to encourage Clay to wear clothes he brings and then to follow him back to his motel rather than sleeping outside in the cold. Clay won't come into the motel room at first, preferring to sleep curled up in the open doorway but eventually ventures inside as long as the door remains open. The man cuts Clay's hair and toenails and cleans him up after bribing him with jambalaya. The man reintroduces Clay to speech and reveals himself to be Jeremy Danvers, Clay at first can't remember his own name but then recalls it as Clayton. Jeremy teaches Clay some basic social manners such as not peeing on the furniture, growling at strangers or sniffing things before taking him to purchase forged illegal identification. When a boy tries to pick Jeremy's pocket Clay acts with instinct and throws himself at him, tackling him to the ground with the boys shrieks reminding him of a dying rabbit and the fact that he's hungry. Before Clay can do anything else Jeremy pulls him off of him, apologises and leaves. Clay assumes that the meeting was a test and he failed, that Jeremy will be taking him back to the bayou, instead Jeremy makes the split second decision to take Clay straight home rather than returning to the motel. They fly on an aeroplane to Syracuse, with Jeremy drugging Clay's milk so he will sleep during the flight. While in a taxi on the way to Stonehaven Clay notices Jeremy is tense, worried and afraid, which feeds Clay's own anxiety and triggers his self defense mechanism to begin Changing. Clay does this silently as he is used to pain, once Jeremy notices he drags him out of the taxi and hides him in a ditch while he finishes his Change. They make most of the remaining journey to Jeremy's home, Stonehaven, with Clay in wolf form with him only Changing back as they make their final approach. Once they arrive at Stonehaven Jeremy is playfully tackled by his best friend Antonio, with Clay leaping on him to attack him in Jeremy's defense. As Clay eats Jeremy and Antonio discuss him and Jeremy's decision to bring him back. Clay begins to develop his language skills over the following weeks by listening to Antonio and Jeremy talk, Jeremy begins expecting Clay to speak in full sentences which reveals Clay has a temper. After refusing to express himself in a full sentence Clay throws a tantrum, using his Werewolf strength to smash an end table into sticks and splinters against the fireplace. After Clay goes upstairs to sulk Antonio follows him and reassures him that Jeremy isn't going to make him leave, as well as telling him to go and apologise to Jeremy, which Clay does and helps Jeremy to clean up the mess after he's forgiven. Clay 'helps' Antonio to make a birthday cake for Jeremy's twenty second birthday. Clay watches Jeremy indulge in his archery hobby before the party until they are interrupted by the arrival of Jeremy's father Malcolm Danvers, the Werewolf who Clay came across in Baton Rogue and who attacked him. Clay attempts to attack Malcolm after being introduced to him but is held back by Jeremy. Clay isn't happy that his new territory is also the home of a Werewolf who has already attacked him once but he trusts Jeremy to keep him safe. Clay attends Jeremy's birthday party that night which is cruelly crashed by Malcolm before Jeremy ends the party and takes him upstairs to sleep, where he has been sharing a room with Jeremy. Clay listens in on Antonio and Jeremy again discussing Jeremy's decision to bring Clay to Stonehaven. When Malcolm extends his stay at Stonehaven Clay is aware of how much Jeremy hates having him there and begins plotting how to get rid of him, knowing he can't kill Malcolm, Clay uses his animal instincts and begins stalking and watching Malcolm to discover his weaknesses. Malcolm realises what Clay is doing and tries to tell Jeremy who believes that Clay is just behaving with childish curiosity and dismisses his concern, now realising how much this behavior bothers Malcolm, Clay begins to engage in it with the purpose being to irritate him into leaving. As a final move in his plan Clay sneaks into Malcolms room at night and lays a knife on his pillow Malcolm corners Clay and tells him he knows what his plan is and that he's developing his own plan to be rid of Clay. Malcolm's plan turns out to be, to bring a woman to Stonehaven and entice Clay to kill her. Malcolm believes Clay to have a very feral and uncomplicated set of likes and dislikes as well as values, Clay tells him he isn't hungry and thus has no instinct to hurt the woman at that time and that Jeremy has told him not to kill humans. Malcolm tries everything he can to push Clay to kill the woman, including bringing her close to him and smearing her blood across his face but Clay doesn't do as he wants. Clay tries to run and Malcolm kills the woman, with Jeremy finding them right after having been drawn to them by his Kogitsune powers. Malcolm tries to lie to Jeremy about who killed the woman, with Clay eager to be believed, but Jeremy knows Clay to be innocent and uses his fathers actions to get him to agree to leave Stonehaven for ten months. Jeremy worries about how witnessing the woman's death affects Clay but he reassures Jeremy that he's fine. After Jeremy clears up the woman's death Clay goes to him and explains why it happened, Jeremy reassures him that it wasn't his fault and makes sure that Clay knows killing humans is wrong. Antonio brings his son Nicholas Sorrentino to meet Clay for the first time that summer. Clay doesn't react well to the presence of another Werewolf child in his home, despite the fact that this child can't Change, and mistakenly believes he needs to assert his dominance. Clay tackles Nick to the ground and frightens him, causing the boy to wet himself, Clay is dragged off of Nick and realises the struggle for dominance was in his mind, causing him to feel regret, guilt and shame for the first time. Clay is told that Nick should be treated as a Pack brother in the way that he treats Antonio and his actions spur Jeremy to socialise him around other children more. Jeremy takes Clay to a playground regularly where he sits by himself on a swing and grows covertly at children to warn them away while he watches them. Clay later learns these excursions are only a precursor to a different form of socialisation, placing Clay in school. Clay is displeased to be placed in kindergarten because of his lack of schooling and socialization when he learned it entailed a bright room and singing old McDonald. Clay can already read all the books in the kindergarten teachers story library but is forced to stay in the class and hates it. Jeremy continues his schooling at home and has Clay keep attending school for the socialisation, despite the fact that his stalking behavior makes the little kids nervous. To compensate for the disappointment of school Jeremy begins teaching Clay how to hunt as a wolf successfully, having to bring animals in and dissect them to show Clay there weaknesses as he tends to rip apart whatever he manages to catch. Clay begins to eye the classroom pets with a new interest which catches the eye of his teacher, who tells Jeremy how much Clay likes the pets. Jeremy tells Clay he can't kill or eat them and instead offers him a larger breakfast before school to compensate for his appetites. Clay gets around this rule by waiting for one of the guinea pigs to die and then dissecting it in the classroom, causing him to be expelled and for Jeremy to continue his efforts at home schooling. That November Clay makes his first appearance at a Pack meeting, held at the Sorrentino estate. Upon meeting Dominic Sorrentino, the Alpha, he attempts to maintain eye contact and manages for a time until he has to look away. Clay is told to go down to the basement with the other Pack kids until it's time to eat, when he gets down there he finds Stephen Santos and his brothers bullying Nick and Joey Stillwell. After Stephen breaks Nick's radio Clay hands him the largest pieces and Stephen finds a new target, he attempts to insult Clay by calling him both a retard and a mutt but Clay just stares him down. Once Stephen begins mocking Jeremy, as well as Gregory Sorrentino, Clay is unable to ignore him and launches himself at Stephen to fight him in Jeremy's defense. When the fight is broken up by the adults, Nick and Joey lie about why Clay attacked Stephen but Jeremy is aware of the true reason and doesn't punish him. Clay is introduced to the majority of the Pack at lunch and is allowed to eat with the adults as he has the appetite of a full Werewolf, almost eating more than Dominic. Clay is welcomed as an official member of the Pack and then goes outside to play with Nick as well as Daniel Santos who they quickly abandon when Clay decides he would rather play with Nick who has only been nice to him. Clay learns that Nick does not value dishonesty and is open with him about not being in school and the reason for his expulsion. Daniel Santos overhears and rushes to tell the adults, Clay worries about the result of this and follows, bursting in just in time to tell the assorted adults that he did not in fact kill the guinea pig as it was already dead. Clay was present when a mutt named Carl Pritchard challenged Jeremy and understood why he was hesitant, as it would only encourage more mutts to come and fight him. Clay hid and watched as Jeremy fought the mutt who tried to continue the fight after Jeremy was prepared to let him walk, he saw Jeremy be forced to kill the mutt. On a trip to a mall Nick dares Clay to jump down an elevator shaft, causing Clay to break an arm and have to go to hospital. While there Clay's blood is mistakenly drawn and analysed by a lab tech, after Clay's release from the hospital Jeremy returns and is forced to kill the lab tech and remove the evidence of the tests he'd performed. Ascension Clay is also the narrator of the sequel novella, Ascension. In 1972 Clay is part of a Pack deer hunt, after realising their won't be much of the deer left for him to eat himself Clay decides to hunt for his own food. Clay finds a rabbit and is forced to defend his kill from Stephen Santos who seeks to take it from him, Malcolm Danvers comes across them and tries to get Clay to submit and relequenish the rabbit also but Clay won't, Malcolm is somewhat impressed and allows him to leave with his catch. A month before Clay's eleventh birthday Jeremy begins to sense something is wrong with former Pack member Peter Myers and after receiving a phone call overheard by Malcolm Danvers, Clay accompanies Jeremy to Los Angeles as he tries to help Peter. When Jeremy has Peter Change and go for a run Clay decides to join him and finds Peter under attack from Malcolm. Despite his age and size Clay helps Jeremy to fight him and continues to defend Peter when Malcolm is forced to retreat. Malcolm confronts them in human form and tells Jeremy that Clay has what he is lacking and that he wants to train him, Jeremy doesn't want to agree but Clay does, knowing even at that young age that Malcolm is the Pack's best fighter and if Clay is going to learn to defend Jeremy against Malcolm then learning from the man himself is the best option he has. At thirteen Clay enters high school after having to pass two IQ tests before the school will allow it, he makes friends with the outsiders although Clay's idea of friends outside the Pack are people he could eat lunch with and team up with for join projects. When Clay is fifteen he kills his first mutt, an older wolf who comes to Stonehaven at night and howls from the woods to draw the occupants out, being the only one home Clay goes out, Changes into wolf form, and kills him before burying the body and going back to bed. More mutts begin to come to Stonehaven, one of whom Clay kills. As Clay enters puberty at sixteen he begins to experience sexual urges, with no female Werewolves for their urges to be directed at he settles for humans, with Clay's wolf mind though he can't settle for the idea of a casual partner and instead seeks out a lifelong mate, despite the fact that he can't envision spending a weekend with most humans. Clay is approached by his schools football coach who wants him to join the team, Clay makes it clear in typical gruff Clay fashion that he isn't interested which has the coach and team bothering him and making him somewhat of a social pariah, leading to a miserable time at school for Clay. Clay argues with Jeremy about what college he'll attend which leads Clay to believe that Jeremy wants to get rid of him. Clay ends up at a party with Nick where a girl tries to flirt with him, Clay tells her he's not interested and ends up in a fight with her boyfriend. After leaving the party Clay is approached by Malcolm who offers to tell him why there's been an increase to the amount of mutts coming to Stonehaven. Clay goes with him and initially believes that Malcolm is sending the mutts to test hum but learns the increase is actually due to the fact that Jeremy is in consideration to be Alpha, the mutts can't strike against the Alpha himself and Malcolm has a fierce reputation so they're approaching Jeremy instead. Malcolm attempts to manipulate Clay by suggesting that if Jeremy makes it known he doesn't want to be Alpha then the mutts will stop coming, Clay doesn't fall for this. Upon returning to Stonehaven Clay learns that Jeremy was never planning on kicking him out and together they come to a compromise regarding Clay going away to school. Clay develops a plan to stop the mutts from coming to Stonehaven by cementing his reputation in such a way that they'll be too afraid to come to his territory. After an argument with Jeremy, Clay comes across a mutt on his territory and enacts his plan, after convincing the mutt he intends to fight him he tells the mutt to meet him and bring a friend so that Nick Sorrentino has someone to fight. Clay and Nick ambush the two wolves and sedate them, Clay has Nick tie the Werewolf who was brought to fight him to a tree while Clay takes the original ambusher into a cabin. In the cabin Clay heavily sedates the mutt so he won't wake up or experience any pain and then mutilates him while ensuring he stays alive. Clay brings the other mutt and shows him what he's done, including the fact that his friend is still alive before Clay kills him with an axe, Clay tells him that he'll let him go as long as he takes polaroids that Clay has taken of what he did to the mutt and distribute them to others, warning them to stay off his territory unless they want the same to happen to them. Jeremy begins to sell his paintings in 1979 and buys Clay a black mustang convertible. Clay starts his graduate work at Columbia and attends Dominic Sorrentino's last Pack meeting where he bullies Daniel Santos, suggests they hunt rather than go to a bar and is defended by Malcolm for his actions in making their territories safe. After Dominic dies of a stroke Clay attends his funeral and then his wake where Malcolm begins to suggest he been made Alpha straight away, after a discussion about how the Alpha is to be chosen a vote begins, with Antonio not even needing to ask that Clay is voting for Jeremy. The vote is split evenly with three members asking for time to think before casting their votes, Clay goes to speak to Dennis and Joey Stillwell and finds out that they're leaving the Pack. As Joey is Clay's friend he is disappointed and angry about his decision but unable to change it. The other abstaining Pack member, Ross Werner, also chooses to leave the Pack rather than voting. Some months after the stalemate begins Malcolm has one of his supporters, Stephen Santos, shoot Nick to distract Jeremy's best fighters Clay and Antonio so he can strike at him. Clay goes to confront him, proving that Stephen is the shooter and knowing that Malcolm was behind it despite his lies and is pulled out by Antonio who reminds him they're supposed to keep Jeremy safe. Clay and the rest of Jeremy's supporters discuss what to do with Clay suggesting they kill Malcolm, Jeremy instead offers Malcolm a proposal that they split into two Packs which Malcolm shoots down. Clay and Antonio brainstorm ways to end the stalemate, suggesting both killing Malcolm and killing some of his supporters to swing the vote in Jeremy's favour but don't hit upon anything that they're sure will work. Malcolm enacts a second plan by drugging their food with sedatives to attack at night, they discover the food is drugged and instead lay a trap. When three of the Santos' enter Stonehaven, Clay is pretending to be unconscious and overhears their plan to kill Jeremy and leave Clay alive on Malcolm's orders. Clay subdues Andrew Santos before finding Wally and Stephen Santos, Wally Santos is killed by Jeremy while Clay takes care of Stephen. They call Malcolm and the remaining Santos' in and reveal what has happened and that they know Malcolm was behind it, the Santos' leave after Malcolm kills Andrew Santos to prove how far he is willing to go and to stop him from fingering him as the one who gave the order. Clay fights Malcolm who learns that Clay is willing to kill him, something Malcolm didn't believe as he mistakenly thought they had a bond. Jeremy became Alpha and for a time, until Elena joined the Pack, Clay served as Pack enforcer with Antonio. Beginnings Becoming Bitten Stolen Broken No Humans Involved Personal Demon Living with the Dead Frostbitten Hidden Forsaken Trivia * Clay is known to have an aversion to; public places, crowds, public transport, humans in general, humans and any non-Pack member on his territory, needless conversation, small talk, dancing around a subject rather than approaching it honestly * Clay doesn't have a firm grasp on modesty or privacy and will walk in on people when they're in the bathroom as he views it as a natural behavior that doesn't need to be hidden. * Clay's behavior is influenced not only by the way that he became a full Werewolf as a very young child, but also because he grew up in an abusive and neglectful household where he was beaten and left to fend for himself. * The Werewolf who bit Clay is never mentioned again and little is known about him, except that he was an older mutt who lived near Baton Rogue in a cabin in the woods during the summer of 1967. * According to the forged identification purchased in 1969 by Jeremy Danvers, Clay is his orphaned cousin. It is not known whether Clay was later officially or illegally adopted by Jeremy. * The birth date that Jeremy chose for Clay is the day he first found him. * Since being brought home by Jeremy, Clay has lived at Stonehaven and has no intention to ever leave it. * Clay is the fastest to Change in the Pack and does so with no complaint about the pain, stating 'if you grow up with pain, it becomes a fact of your existence' referencing not only the fact that he underwent his first Changes when he was around 5 years old but also the fact that he was beaten as a human child before that. * When he was young his Changes were emotion based and could occur two or three times a day. * As a child Clay was incapable of going against Jeremy's orders even when angry with him and viewed him as his 'god', whatever Jeremy did was good and right. * Clay is aware that he ''should ''feel something when someone dies but if that person isn't Pack or otherwise close to him then their death means very little, to nothing, to him. When it comes to life and death Clay's mind operates on an animal level, that you kill to survive, in defense of yourself and for food, anything else is inexcusable. * Clay wouldn't sleep in his own room when he first came to Stonehaven and instead stayed in Jeremy's room. * Clay does not believe that if he had treated Daniel Santos any differently when they were growing up, that Daniel would have turned out any differently including the events of Bitten. * Clay has never treated Jeremy's abilities as being unnatural, something to fear or doubt or making him any less of a Werewolf, unlike others have. Even before they learned the source of Jeremy's extra powers he trusted in and believed in them. * Nick Sorrentino has been Clay's best friend and right hand man since they were both children, in a similar way to how their parents Jeremy and Antonio have also been best friends their whole lives. * As a child Clay would practice his stalking and hunting methods on Nick in the woods at Stonehaven, he also would leave Nick in the woods alone to find his own way back, hoping it would help to improve his sense of direction. * Clay was trained by Antonio Sorrentino, Jeremy Danvers and Malcolm Danvers and grew to be the best fighter in the Pack. * Clay drives a black mustang convertible and treats the speed limit as a suggestion. * Clay attended Syracuse University as an undergrad and then did his graduate work at Columbia. * There is a running trope throughout the otherworld series of characters believing Clay to be a psychopath for his actions in cementing his reputation (by mutilating a living Werewolf and distributing pictures of what he did) as well as Werewolves believing Clay to be the one to have become Alpha rather than Elena, with those who believe this rationalising that with Clay's reputation the Pack couldn't justify having him be Alpha so they're pretending Elena is instead. * Elena Michaels suggests that Malcolm's interest in Clay as a boy and teen were predatory and sexual in nature. Clay himself never mentions or confirms this in anyway and may in fact have been unaware of Malcolm's possible illicit interest in him. Category:Werewolf Category:Otherworld Character Category:Main Characters Category:Living Character